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wan assertions on tne importance ot preserving and protecting Rappahannock’s rural agricultural character. Are those just ringing phrases or do they mean something?
Agriculture in Rappahannock is apples, and county orchardists agree that migrant labor is crucial for harvest.
They must supply their own migrant worker housing. Most use old tenant houses or else they have a labor camp established before the zoning ordinance was adopted and thus permitted as a “grandfathered” use. Only one orchardist has come to the county for a permit and built new housing to federal guidelines for migrant worker camps. When he returns to the BZA for a new permit to give him the flexibility to hire labor when labor is available and to house labor when labor is needed, he faces a fight.
There’s not much the Board of Supervisors can do in this case; it will be up to the BZA to determine, using the criteria set out in the zoning ordinance. But the supervisors can follow the example set by Loudoun County for the future.
There, when a new subdivision goes in an agricultural area, lot buyers are put on written notice that agriculture is the preferred use. We should do the same. Such notice may help avoid a clash between farmer and subdivision dweller, or at least, give advance warning that in a conflict, if there’s ’ room for doubt or discretionary judgement, the edge will go to the farmer.
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